Mr. Curious
08-05-2005, 08:17 PM
Last night, I played in the toughest NL live I have ever been in. I knew it was tough, yet I stayed because I wanted to watch how all of the people played. I knew at best I was the "second" fish and that I would probably lose my modest stack. But I figured that the experience was well worth the cost.
For example:
It is heads up between the tightest player at the table (he's decent overall, but is a bit too cautious and susceptible to moves) and someone the old pro on my right called "the Best Player in the Room".
We'll call them Tightie & BPR.
Tightie was the button with a stack of $900 and BPR was the small blind with a stack of $2000 (he came from another table, this was his 8th hand here, and the first he played).
There was no raise preflop and 5 players saw a flop of J88.
The pot is $22 (-$2 for the rake + -$1 for jackpot) and it is checked to tightie who bets $20. BPR raises to $60, Tightie re-raises for $160 total, and BPR calls.
The turn is an Ace and Tightie bets $275.
BPR spends some time thinking, shows Tightie an 8, and folds.
A little while later, BPR seat changes to my left and I ask him about the hand. I mention that my take on Tightie was a look of relief when he saw BPR fold the 8 and BPR says that he thought it was a look of disbelief ala "how can you lay that down?"
He then tells me that he folded his 8 because he had a 2 kicker and he felt like there was a 70% chance he was behind, 25% chance he chops, and a 5% chance he is ahead. He felt that Tightie would have raised with AJ preflop, so it was highly likely that he had an 8 in his hand with a better kicker.
I was a bit stunned. I had not thought about a hand in percentage terms. I think about what I have, what they have, and occasionally what they think I have, but this was a new approach. I remember Sklansky mentioning it in one of his books, and looking back on it, I was not advanced enough to understand why it is needed.
Second example:
Just an overall impression from watching the players was that the really good ones lay down more hands and wait for a better spot to get the chips. If they think they are beat, they are willing to let it go unless they have a read on someone, and even then, they are thinking in terms of what the pot is really worth.
Third example:
I do not play back enough and allow myself to get pushed around. People make assumptions about my hand and my betting patterns are too predictable. Even when I try to get tricky, I still cannot get anyone to bite. I'm hoping some online NL play (because of hand histories) will help me figure them out so I can change them up and better conceal myself.
...
Though my stack dwindled a bit, and the old pro called me a rock /images/graemlins/shocked.gif, the experience was worth every chip I lost.
For example:
It is heads up between the tightest player at the table (he's decent overall, but is a bit too cautious and susceptible to moves) and someone the old pro on my right called "the Best Player in the Room".
We'll call them Tightie & BPR.
Tightie was the button with a stack of $900 and BPR was the small blind with a stack of $2000 (he came from another table, this was his 8th hand here, and the first he played).
There was no raise preflop and 5 players saw a flop of J88.
The pot is $22 (-$2 for the rake + -$1 for jackpot) and it is checked to tightie who bets $20. BPR raises to $60, Tightie re-raises for $160 total, and BPR calls.
The turn is an Ace and Tightie bets $275.
BPR spends some time thinking, shows Tightie an 8, and folds.
A little while later, BPR seat changes to my left and I ask him about the hand. I mention that my take on Tightie was a look of relief when he saw BPR fold the 8 and BPR says that he thought it was a look of disbelief ala "how can you lay that down?"
He then tells me that he folded his 8 because he had a 2 kicker and he felt like there was a 70% chance he was behind, 25% chance he chops, and a 5% chance he is ahead. He felt that Tightie would have raised with AJ preflop, so it was highly likely that he had an 8 in his hand with a better kicker.
I was a bit stunned. I had not thought about a hand in percentage terms. I think about what I have, what they have, and occasionally what they think I have, but this was a new approach. I remember Sklansky mentioning it in one of his books, and looking back on it, I was not advanced enough to understand why it is needed.
Second example:
Just an overall impression from watching the players was that the really good ones lay down more hands and wait for a better spot to get the chips. If they think they are beat, they are willing to let it go unless they have a read on someone, and even then, they are thinking in terms of what the pot is really worth.
Third example:
I do not play back enough and allow myself to get pushed around. People make assumptions about my hand and my betting patterns are too predictable. Even when I try to get tricky, I still cannot get anyone to bite. I'm hoping some online NL play (because of hand histories) will help me figure them out so I can change them up and better conceal myself.
...
Though my stack dwindled a bit, and the old pro called me a rock /images/graemlins/shocked.gif, the experience was worth every chip I lost.